Ring binder mechanism



'Jan. 11, 1938. J; SCHADE v Q 2,105,235

. I 7 KING BINDER MECHANISM Filed March s, 1 36 I l3 2 U16. 9 INVENTOR l\z/\/\ v Jmv Samoa 'wavuz ATTORNEYS Patented Jan. 11, 1938 John Schade, Holyoka' Mass,

National Blank Book Company,

assignor, to Holyoke,

Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application March 3, 1936, Serial No. 66,873

4 Claims.

This invention relates to an improvement in ring binder mechanism for loose leaf books.

Its object is to provide improved. means for locking the binder rings when c1osed in sheet retaining position and for unlocking the rings when desired. 1

To accomplish this object I preferably use the mechanism shown in the accompanying drawing but it will be obvious to one acquainted with the detail of loose leaf mechanism that many of the old elements in the combination may be modified by other old and equivalent elements and that the invention is in the new combination of these elements for the new purpose.

In the drawing- Fig.1 is a perspective view of one end of the combined assembly;

Fig. 2 is'a section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a like section mounted on a back panel .2 of: a binder;

' Figs. 4, 5, 6, and '7 are detail views;

Figs. 8 and 9 are top and bottom views of the combined assemblywith the middle section broken out to reduce the drawing area; and

11. Figs. 10 to inclusive are detail diagrammatic 1,1 5 some degree of springiness, is bent over at the l side edges. A pair of toggle plates 2 and 3 lie between these edges. Half rings 4 and 5 oppositely fastened respectively to the toggle plates 2 and 3 open when said plates rise at their center line and close whenthe plates are pushed down or fall as in. Fig. 3. The plate I with engaged edges tends to hold the toggle plates 2 and 3 in one position or the other. Sometimes the cover plate isput under the toggle plates but the principle of operation is the same.

These parts are commonly made of sheet metal.

It is characteristic of the commercial structures that there is a good deal of spring to the parts, even when braced by the back panel 6 of a book binding case to which the metal is ordinarily riveted, as indicated in Fig. 3. The toggle plates 2 and'3 are commonly operated by pulling and pushing onthe rings to open and close them.

Sometimes one ring-will not be quite closed in the ordinary prior art structure, when one or more of the others are closed. Sometimes what is called a booster device of one form or another is used in prior art structures, to operate the toggle plates for opening or closing or both, and sometimes for locking the toggle plates in the ring halves.

closed position. This booster device is used to make the operation more convenient, or easier, or both,--or more forceful. But even when a booster device is used on the toggle plates, it frequently happens in the prior art structures that the rings do not all completely close, and even if they do there is a tendency for the rings remote from the booster device to spring open more easily than the rings close tomthe booster, even when the latter also looks the toggle plates 10 in closed position. One form of known loose leaf metal ring construction has its tip ends made with engageable hooks. When hooked together they are locked against a direct opening pull o device for this purpose is conveniently made and operated like the form shown in my Patent 2,030,- 473, granted February 11, 1936, but the combination of the present invention is not limited to that form.

In my new combination as shown, I fasten one set. of ring halves 4 to one toggle plate 2, the mating set 5 to the other toggle plate 3, shape the cover or'spring plate I so the toggle plates may be shifted longitudinally enough to unhook the ring tips and to hook them together (indicated in Fig. 11) and I provide means to so shift the toggle plates for hooking and unhooking the tips of the mating ring halves;

I will now describe the best arrangement of parts I know of to perform these functions. I provide a cap piece or end closure I, seen in Figs. 1, 4, 8, and 9., This can be made and slipped on over the cover plate I and removably held in place by-a spring clip 8 normally having a bent end engaged with shoulder 8', Fig. 4. The top of the cap has the opening as indicated in Figs. 1 and 4, through which the booster lever 9 extends. The latter has a finger portion at the outer end, an intermediate shouldered por tion to ride on and pivot upon the top of cap 8 at the sides of the opening, and shoulders underneath this opening so as to make a rather loose engagement for pivoting and an end portion of eye form Ill engaging a pin II. This pin has slotted ends to engage toggle plates 2 and 3 to lift and lower these plates. The general action is indicated diagrammatically by Figs. 10, 12, and 14. As the booster lever 9 is moved back and forth through the positions there shown, the toggle plates are raised and lowered. This is the similar booster action to that shown in my said Patent 2,030,473. In my present improvement I use this booster action to also shift the toggle plates for locking and unlocking the tip ends of my binder rings in proper timed relation, as I will show.

The tips of the rings are hook-shaped, as in Figs. 11, 13, and 15. As lever 9 is moved from full to dotted line position in Fig. 10, the eye NJ at the bottom of the lever simply moves to just engage the shoulder l2 of toggle lever 2. When lever 9 moves to position of Fig. 12, the eye If! bearing on shoulder l2 pushes .toggle plate 2 longitudinally with respect to toggle plate 3. Any suitable means may be used to prevent longitudinal movement of plate 3 during this movement of toggle plate 2. One such means is indicated in Fig. 8 where the upper ring half has a close fit with its slot in mounting or cover plate I while the ring half 4 has a loose fit. The ring part 4 is integral with toggle plate 2 and may move until stopped by edge It: or sooner, while the possible movement of ring part 5 as by any frictional drag on toggle plate 3 to which part 5 is fastened will be stopped short by the close fit with the side of slot for ring half 5 in cover plate I. Toggle plate 3 is not -mounted for longitudinal movement, as theoperation makes clear, and any stop to prevent such movement may be put in association with plate 3. The ring half 5 and its slot, as in Fig. 8, will serve the purpose. halves 4 and 5 separate as in Fig. 13, and the toggle plates 2 and 3 have moved from the relative positions of Fig. 6 to those of Fig. '7. This ac'tion takes place of course before the toggle plates are lifted. After the hooked ends of the ring halves are separated as in Fig. 13, the toggle is moved to the position of Fig. 14. The leverage is such that this movement lifts the toggle plates to open the rings as in Fig. 15. On the reverse movements the action' is reversed, except that'the first movement of lever 9 is from that of Fig. 14 to the position shown in Fig. 12. This movement will lower the toggle plates and close the rings as in Fig. 13, and further movement of booster lever to the position of Fig. 10 will cause eye ill to engage shoulder 13 to shift the toggle plate 2 back to position of Fig. 6 and locked ring position of Fig.'11.

A similar booster lever mountingand action (apart from the action of shifting the toggle plates) is disclosed with more detail in my before mentioned patent. In the present improvement I have combined means to relatively shift the toggle plates operable by the booster lever action. To bring this about conveniently the top slots l5 in one edge of the spring plate are made large enough for the shifting action. The slot l6 (Fig. 8) for one ring half 5 is enlarged to assist assembling the parts in the spring plate sidewise. The nature of the toggle plate assembly for pivoting on their adjacent sides is an ordinary one of oppositely disposed overlapping lips l1, permitting relative longitudinal movement. I find it convenient to use the separate end cap 7 for mounting the booster lever, but of course the same mounting could be arranged in the top of the spring plate I. This spring plate holds the toggle plates in any ordinary Way as shown, and

Then the hooked ends of ring as indicated in Fig. 3, it makes a simple appearing structure of the single booster type. And yet the simple mechanical combination will perform more desirable functions than any loose leaf mechanism having anywhere near as simple 5 a construction and appearance.

Thus, one of my main purposes is accomplished by making a simple combination which will effectively lock and unlock the rings from springing apart. It will be noted in this combination that 10 the means for shifting the toggle plates is the only added element required in addition to the elements of toggle plates, spring plate, and rings. The fact that the rings have hooked end tips is a characteristic'of those elements but does not of 15 itself add an additional element to the simplest form of the useful combination for my purpose.

Since a convenient thing in ring binders is some formof booster device, I have shown for illustrative purposes the best form known to me. And I have arranged the toggle plates so as to be shifted by the operation of the booster devicei There may in some instances be an advantage in omitting the booster function of lifting and lowering the toggle plates by the same lever that I my mechanism can be made loose enough, with 7 spring plate I light enough for all the parts to 'Work very easily. This is a big advantage in parts made mostly of sheet metal which are not, made to precision measurements of their operating parts. For example, without my means of locking the rings at their ends in a structure of the kind described, it would be customary to make spring plate I quite stiff enough so as to have'the rings hold together by the hold of the spring on 4 the toggle plate positions. But now, with the improvement, the mere position of the toggle plates locks the rings together without any spring hold for that purpose. And so the spring force of plate I can be made small enough to let the toggle plates move easier than before. Thus, the ordinary function of the booster lever in provid- "ing power to move the toggle plates is nowhere near as important as before. The device works more easily than before for this reason. And although it Works easier, all its old funct1ons and additional ones are accomplished with no more tangible structure than before.

' sible terms I have illustrated in Fig. 5 a mere 5 finger piece for shifting the toggle plates.

Be tween this simple means and the more involved means of my booster construction, many varieties of means will be clear to the skilled mechanic for that element of the combination with respect to the broader claims. The preferred embodiment shows the invention as I have actually built it and reduced it to practice for use.

I claim:

1. In a loose leaf mechanism the combination 7 5 of two toggle plates, one set of ring halves fastened on and immovably mounted with respect to each toggle plate to match the ring halves in the other set, the tip ends of said ring halves having hook-shaped locking portions for engagement and disengagement by relative lateral movement as distinguished from pivotal movements, a mounting for the toggle plates, and means to longitudinally shift the toggle plates relatively to engage and disengage said ring ends,

2. A loose leaf binder having in combination prong carrying toggle plates, prongs fastened to said plates for opening and closing upon movement of the latter, hook portions on the tips of said prongs, a spring plate in which the prong carrying toggle plates are mounted for limited toggle and relative longitudinal movements, said spring plate having an opening between its ends and a fulcrum at the opening, a lever slidably mounted on the prong plates and having a finger piece extending through the opening in the spring plate between its ends, said lever bearing on the fulcrum at the spring plate opening to operate on the toggle plates to lower and raise them, one of said toggle plates having shoulder means engageable by said lever to shift the said plates longitudinally relatively and thereby the corresponding prongs to disengage their hooked ends before the lever moves said plates in their prong opening toggle operation and to engage their hooked ends after the lever moves said plates to prong closed position.

3. A loose leaf binder having in combination a mounting plate, two engaged toggle plates mounted in the mounting plate for both toggle and relative longitudinal movements, ring halves fast on the toggle plates to open and close on pivotal movement of the plates, said ring halves having hook-shaped tips adapted on longitudinal relative movement between the toggle plates to engage and disengage for locking and unlocking the rings at their tips, a lever with a fulcrum on the mounting plate and. a portion engageable with parts on the toggle plates and to shift the latter both through their toggle movements and the relative longitudinal movement so as to lock and unlock the ring tips on opposite lateral movement and approximately close and fully open the ring halves on toggle movement of the toggle plates.

4. A loose leaf binder metal combination comprising two toggle plates carrying ring halves, a cover plate with edges clamped on the outer edges of the toggle plates to hold them for toggle movement in opening and closing the ring halves and also for a slight relative longitudinal movement between the toggle plates, the ring halves having hook-shaped tips adapted to lock and unlock on relative longitudinal movement of the toggle plates when the latter are in lowered position, and a lever fulcrumed on the cover plate and having a depending portion engageable with the toggle plates to shift the latter relatively longitudinally in one direction after they are lowered so as to lock the ring tips and oppositely to unlock them and also to lower the toggle plates.

JOHN SCHADE. 

